Bicycle rack

ABSTRACT

A bicycle rack (10) may be supported by a base (40) on a tow bar of a vehicle. The bicycle rack (10) includes an upright post (11) having at its upper end a pivotally supported arm (12), which is adapted by way of grooves (20) to support a number of bicycles by engagement with the bicycle top tubes. To retain the bicycles in place, a retaining plate (13) is held against the pivot arm (12) by wing nuts applied to threaded fasteners (19) and a padlock which may pass through a hole (22) and a corresponding hole in the pivot arm (12). A gas strut (18) extends between the post (11) and the pivot arm (12) to aid in its pivoting. A number plate support (23) is pivotally attached to the remote end of the pivot arm (12) and connected to the post (11) by a parallelogram linkage to maintain the number plate in a generally vertical plane regardless of the orientation of the pivot arm (12).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The following invention relates to bicycle racks. More particularly,though not exclusively, the invention relates to a bicycle rack whichmay be affixed to the wall of a garage, or for example to the tow bar ofa vehicle, and to securely retain bicycles.

PRIOR ART

Various means of supporting a bicycle upon a motor vehicle are known.One method is to simply place the bicycle in the trunk of the vehicle,often requiring the bicycle to be at least partially dismantled. Anothermethod is to attach the bicycle by some means to roof racks upon avehicle's roof or by some other means to the rear of the vehicle. Suchmeans of attaching bicycles to the roof or rear of the vehicle includeminimal if any security measures to prevent or deter theft of thebicycle(s).

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantiallyameliorate at least one of the abovementioned disadvantages and/or moregenerally to provide an improved bicycle rack.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein a bicycle rack comprising:

an upright post to be secured to an object,

an arm pivotably attached to said post and adapted to pivot between afirst orientation essentially parallel with said post, and a secondorientation essentially normal to said post,

means to lock said arm against pivoting in one or more preselectedorientations, and

retaining means to lockingly retain at least part of a bicycle to saidarm, wherein said retaining means comprises a plate adapted to be lockedto said arm, said plate comprising a deviation by which a top tube of abicycle may be secured against said arm.

Preferably, the bicycle rack further comprises a number plate supportpivotally attached to a remote end of said arm.

Preferably, the bicycle rack further comprises means to maintain saidnumber plate support in a preselected orientation relative to said postthroughout pivoting of said arm.

Preferably, said maintaining means comprises a parallelogram linkextending from said post to said number plate support.

Preferably, said arm comprises a groove corresponding to said deviation.

Preferably, there is further provided a gas cylinder extending betweensaid post and said arm.

Preferably, said means to lock comprises at least one locking bossadapted to pass through corresponding apertures in said post and arm,said boss being biased by a spring into said apertures, and beingretractable from at least one of said apertures to allow pivoting ofsaid arm relative to said post.

Preferably, said post is pivotally attached to a base, said base beingadapted to be supported by a vehicle.

Preferably, said base is pivotally lockably mounted to said post.Alternatively, said base comprises a hole therethrough, said base beingsupportable by a tow bar and said hole being adapted to receive a towball shaft for secure mounting to said tow bar.

Also disclosed herein is a combination comprising the above disclosedbicycle rack and a mounting plate adapted to be secured to a wall, themounting plate comprises a lug adapted to cooperate so as to support thepost and means to lock the post to the mounting plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by wayof example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a bicycle rack,

FIG. 2 is a schematic elevational view of the upper portion of the rackof FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a schematic elevational view of part of the rack of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a schematic end elevational view of a locking means formingpart of the bicycle rack of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3,

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an alternative base forming part ofthe bicycle rack of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 6 is a schematic elevational view of the base of FIG. 4 in an openconfiguration.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings there is schematically depicted abicycle rack 10, typically fabricated from mild steel, aluminium orother alloy. Bicycle rack 10 comprises an upright post member 11comprising a channeled section of C-shape in transverse cross section.At the lower end of post 11, there is provided a base 40 welded theretoand comprising a hole 41 through which the threaded shaft of a tow ballmay extend to secure the base 40 to the tow bar of a vehicle. Thethreaded shaft of the tow ball may be provided with a transverseaperture to receive a padlock. However, such a hole need not be providedor alternatively, any means of securing the two ball to the tow bar maybe adopted. For example, a nut securing the threaded shaft to the towbar may be welded to the threaded shaft and/or two bar.

At the upper end of post member 11 there is pivotally attached by way ofpivot shaft 17 a pivot arm 12. Extending between a location part wayalong pivot arm 12 and a location part way along post 11 is a gas strut18. Strut 18 is pivotally attached to arm 12 at pivot point 32 foraiding in the pivoting of arm 12.

The arm 12 is provided with one or more grooves 20 upon which thehorizontal upper tube of a bicycle may be placed. Extending upwardlyfrom the arm 12 is a number of threaded fasteners 15 which pass througha retaining plate 13. Wing nuts or ordinary nuts may be placed uponthreaded fasteners 19 to firmly secure the retaining plate 13 to the arm12. At the end of retaining plate 13 proximal to pivot point 17, a lug25 extends between the retaining plate 13 and arm 12. Lug 25 is longenough to provide a degree of free movement between plate 13 and arm 12at that end. At the distal end of retaining plate 13 there is provided ahole 22 aligned with a corresponding hole in arm 12. As depicted in FIG.2, a padlock 33 may pass through the holes to lock the plate 13 onto arm12. The retaining plate 13 comprises a number of deviations 21 toaccommodate the horizontal member of respective bicycles. Beneath eachdeviation 21 there may be provided padding 26 to prevent scratching ofthe bicycle. Similar padding may be provided upon each groove 20 on arm12.

Also at the distal end of arm 12 is a number plate support member 23.Member 23 is pivotally attached at 45 by way of lug 23 to arm 12. Weldedor otherwise secured to leg 28 is an attachment point 29 to which aparallelogram link 30 is pivotally attached. Link 30 extends to post 11where it is also pivotally attached thereto by way of an attachmentpoint 31 welded or otherwise secured to post 11. The purpose of theparallelogram link 30 is to maintain the orientation of number platesupport member 23 in a generally vertical orientation throughout thepivoting movement of arm 23. In the raised position depicted in FIG. 1,wherein bicycles may be supported by the rack 10, the number plate wouldbe retained in a position readily visible to anyone behind the vehicleto which the rack is attached. When the arm 12 is pivoted down to aclosed configuration, the number plate would remain visible due to itsretained vertical orientation.

As depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper end of post 11 is provided witha resilient buffer 39 against which arm 12 may abut. A brake light 24may be provided upon number plate support 23. Light 24 might alsocomprise a glove to illuminate the number plate. Electricity is providedto light 24 by electrical cabling 27 shown in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a locking device is depicted which isadapted to retain the arm 12 in a selected pivotal orientation. Thelocking device comprises a shaft 36 extending through aligned aperturesin arm 12 and post 11. Fixedly attached to the shaft 36 is a pair ofcross pieces 35, each having attached thereto a locking boss 37. Lockingboss 37 extends through aligned holes in preselected arcuate positionsin arm 12. That is, a pair of holes may be provided in an orientationproviding locking of the arm 12 in a collapsed configuration parallelwith post 11 whereas a further set of holes may be provided in aposition providing locking of the arm 12 in the raised position depictedin FIG. 1 for example. The bosses 37 would be retained in positionthrough aligned holes by compression spring 38. To withdraw the bossesfrom the holes, a handle 34 is provided.

Also depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3 is a mounting plate 14 which may besecured to a garage wall for example. Mounting plate 14 provides a pairof supporting lugs 15 which may pass through appropriately shapedapertures in the back of post 11. Also provided is a padlock eye 15which may pass through slot 46 in the back of post 11 and provide ameans by which a padlock may be used to secure the post 11 to the wall.

Finally, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, an alternative embodiment base 40is depicted. This particular embodiment is suitable for application tostation wagons or other vehicles where access may be gained to theinterior of the vehicle by way of a tail gate or the like. In suchinstances it would be desirable to pivot the bicycle rack 10 to one sideto gain access to the tail gate. To this end the base 40 is providedwith a hinge 42 at one side thereof and at the other side thereof with alocking pin arrangement 43. As can be seen, the post 11 may be pivotedto one side or locked in a vertical orientation by locking pin 43. Asplit pin 44 may prevent accidental removal of locking pin 43.

It should be appreciated that modifications and alterations obvious tothose skilled in the art are not to be considered as beyond the scope ofthe present invention. For example, any alternative means of locking thearm 12 in a desired orientation relative to post 11 may be adapted.Furthermore, any means of maintaining the number plate in an essentiallyvertical orientation may replace that specifically disclosed.

I claim:
 1. A bicycle rack comprising:an upright post to be secured toan object, an arm pivotably attached to said post and adapted to pivotbetween a first orientation essentially parallel with said post, and asecond orientation essentially normal to said post, means to lock saidarm against pivoting in one or more preselected orientations, retainingmeans to lockingly retain at least part of a bicycle to said arm, and anumber plate support pivotally attached to a remote end of said arm. 2.The bicycle rack of claim 1 further comprising means to maintain saidnumber plate support in a preselected orientation relative to said postthroughout pivoting of said arm.
 3. The bicycle rack of claim 2 whereinsaid maintaining means comprises a parallelogram link extending fromsaid post to said number plate support.
 4. The bicycle rack of claim 1wherein said arm comprises a groove corresponding to a deviation in saidretaining means.
 5. The bicycle rack of claim 1 further comprising a gascylinder extending between said post and said arm.
 6. The bicycle rackof claim 1 wherein said means to lock comprises at least one lockingboss adapted to pass through corresponding apertures in said post andsaid arm, said boss being biased by a spring into said apertures, andbeing retractable from at least one of said apertures to allow pivotingof said arm relative to said post.
 7. The bicycle rack of claim 1wherein said post is attached to a base, the base being attachable to avehicle.
 8. The bicycle rack of claim 7 wherein said post is pivotablylockably mounted to said base.
 9. The bicycle rack of claim 7 whereinthe base has a hole therethrough, said base being supportable by a towbar and said hole being adapted to receive a tow ball shaft for securemounting to said tow bar.
 10. In combination, the bicycle rack of claim1 and a mounting plate adapted to be secured to a wall, the mountingplate comprising a lug adapted to cooperate so as to support the postand means to lock the post to the mounting plate.